Fiscal responsibility Bill promised

SEANAD:MINISTER OF State Brian Hayes has said the recently set up fiscal advisory council will have the power to scrutinise the budgets of not only the Government but also of opposition parties.

Mr Hayes, who is a junior minister in Finance, said it was an “absolute commitment” that a fiscal responsibility Bill would be published by the end of March as promised in the memorandum of understanding between the previous government and the troika.

Seán Barrett (Ind) said his proposed private member’s Bill would make Ireland “more like Sweden” where a painful banking collapse was followed by a series of successful fiscal rules. Mr Barrett said his Bill would introduce a fiscal responsibility law, would have multi-annual spending ceilings and a budgetary advisory council which, he said, was already being set up. It would change the political culture which existed between 2000 and 2005 when budget surpluses were spent rather than saved for a “rainy day”.

David Norris (Ind) said it was a shame Mr Barrett’s expertise had not been available to the Seanad 10 years ago. “His expertise and political competence would have been of great significance,” he said. The Bill was an example of the fact that the Seanad could do “very profound work”.

John Crown (Ind) suggested that the Seanad had been “subverted” by full-time politicians. Mr Crown, a consultant oncologist, said the purpose of the upper house was to attract people with “different skills sets”, but it was being used by full-time politicians for their own ends, which was one reason why it had a bad reputation.

He told Senators that he would be better off outside the Seanad if a referendum on its future decided that it should be abolished next year. “Being in the Seanad is costing me money,” he added.

Catherine Noone (FG) suggested that consideration be given to running the Seanad on a voluntary basis if money was the issue behind its potential closure.

Opposition Seanad leader Darragh O’Brien (FF) expressed dissatisfaction at a three-hour suspension of the House yesterday. It was a “very poor use of our time”. Seanad leader Maurice Cummins (FG) referred to the possibility of a referendum when he said this “question of death row should be forgotten” and Senators should proceed with their business.

He defended yesterday’s suspension on the basis that time had to be allocated to discuss Bills coming from the Dáil but the Bills had not materialised in time.